Meet Janna Willoughby-Lohr | Founder & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Janna Willoughby-Lohr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janna, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?

Being authentic and being vulnerable enough to tell my story. I have always been the face of my company and even very early on, I knew that people didn’t necessarily buy my art for the art itself…they buy the experience of interacting with someone who is so full of joy and purpose for what they do. I do a lot on social media because it is an easy, free way to reach more people outside my area while being home with my kids most of the time. And I’m very real with my followers about what life as a mompreneur artist is really like. It’s really hard and messy and wonderful and funny and stressful and amazing all at the same time. I don’t actually post much about my art or sales in any way. I do mainly process videos and stuff like that. I use my social media as a tool to introduce myself and my craft to potential new friends who may at some point buy something or refer me to someone they know.

Some people, artists in particular, don’t have a lot of confidence in themselves that they have a story worth telling. But in order to succeed as an artist, you have to be your own biggest fan. If you don’t love your work, why should anyone else? In this digital age, if you aren’t sharing your work on the internet, it is going to be very difficult to get an audience for what you do. But in the same vein, if you only post pictures of your art and never of yourself, people will never know who they are doing business with and people really invest in the story more than anything else.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I always knew that I wanted to do something creative for my career but it wasn’t until I went away to college on a creative writing scholarship that I realized how much I wanted to make tangible art in addition to writing and performing poetry. I had always made my own journals and made collages so when I saw that the school had classes on bookbinding and papermaking and I immediately signed up for any that I could get into. I ended up taking a bunch of fiber art classes in addition to the book arts classes during my freshman year. At the end of that year I went to my advisor and said, “These are all the classes I took. What major am I working towards?” And he said, “Those are all electives so….nothing.” I was shocked and said, “I’m here on a scholarship. I cannot have wasted an entire year. What am I supposed to do now?” And because he was the best advisor ever, he said, “Well, what do you WANT to do?” I told him, “I want to be an artist, but I don’t want to be broke. How do I do that??” He said, “You should do THAT as your major.” So I ended up creating my own Integrative Studies major called Entrepreneurial Creative Business Arts and I spent the rest of my 4 years learning how to make money with my art. By the time I graduated in 2004, I had a volume of work that I’d made, a business plan, a website, a print catalog and some business cards. I had a really good foundation for where I wanted to go, but the road here certainly wasn’t easy.

During my junior year, my mother died and then four months later, on what would have been her 55th birthday, my dorm burnt to the ground with all my stuff in it…while I was in it. To say it was a traumatic year is a serious understatement. While many people would have dropped out of school and gone back home, I knew my mom would never want me to give up on my dream of being an artist, so I stayed in school. To help deal with all the grief and trauma, I began to make art about my experiences and what I was learning about resilience. I started to put on these little “Show & Tell” events to show my artist’s books and tell the stories behind them and the people who came would often be crying at the end. I had many people tell me that my art had changed them…that I had changed them, for good. Making this art helped me to heal through all these traumatic life experiences, but in turn, that art also helped other people to heal and change. I knew right then that THAT was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I set out to intentionally create those moments that had the power to change someone’s life forever, and to do it as often as possible. That is why I called my business Papercraft Miracles, because it was the miracle that saved me when I literally had nothing.

Keeping this as my mission all these years, my business has been able to affect positive change in a multitude of ways–teaching people about processing grief through art, about sustainability in business and events, about coming back to life after you think you’re going to die. It is the stories of these changes from my clients that kept me going while working at a gas station after college because I had inherited a house that was falling apart and I had bills to pay. They kept me going when my brother got cancer after returning from being a soldier in Iraq and subsequently passed away. Through all the little struggles and big struggles, I look to all the ways I have helped people to say the things they don’t know how to say, to express their love and gratitude for others and I know that I’m on the right path.

Once I met my husband in 2008, and we decided to join forces for artistic good, my business really began to develop. With his support, we purchased a building where we could both pursue our artistic goals and raise a family at the same time. It was a big risk buying this commercial property but it was the best decision we ever made. In the past decade, I quit my job to be the primary caregiver for our three children and to work on growing my business. Shortly after quitting my job, I found someone selling used papermaking equipment on Instagram in the middle of the night while I was up nursing my baby. I jumped at the chance to own my own studio full of papermaking gear like I had dreamed of since college 12 years earlier. I had always kept a list of all the equipment I would buy once I had saved enough money and the list of equipment sent to me from this Instagram seller had EVERYTHING that I had on my list, plus a whole lot more. I offered them five grand for all of it and they accepted! After some logistical genius planning by my husband, we finally got the equipment transported from Indiana to Buffalo, NY and I was officially in the papermaking business.

Eight years later, I now have a team of artisans who work with me to create magical paper art. We’ve done custom work for Twitter, Lowe’s, Pinterest and Capital One, and countless private clients. We keep affecting change by helping people connect, communicate and celebrate in all areas of their lives.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Buffalo, NY is famous for two things…snow and chicken wings. But there is so much more to my city than that. Our food is so stellar, way beyond wings (which are not called Buffalo wings here, they’re just wings and you better not put ranch on them. Blue cheese, baby. Blue cheese.), but our arts community is so vibrant as well and not a lot of people know that.

If someone were visiting here for a week in the summer, I would make sure they got some real Buffalo-style pizza from Imperial, take in some Shakespeare in the Park and then over to get a drink and hear live music at Nietzsche’s in Allentown.

A lot of improvement and revitalization has happened in Buffalo in the past 15 years, so much so, that even I cannot keep up with the hottest new spots for fancy dining and escape rooms, but there are some major staples that you just have to see here. The Albright Knox is a world-class art gallery and has recently reopened after a majestic renovation project.

A day at the waterfront is definitely in order now that we finally got it together to develop it properly and all in one day you can do an outdoor yoga class, tour a submarine, ride a historic carousel and watch the sunset over the water.

A visit to Buffalo isn’t complete without a trip to Misuta Chows where you need to take a photo in the famous pink staircase and taking in a show at Sheas because that theater is simply a stunning piece of historical architecture.

Make sure to get in a walk around Delaware Park at Hoyt Lake and the Japanese Gardens, sushi from Sun Restaurant on Niagara and get a cocktail like “The Raven” at Revolution Gallery on Hertel (or a “Nevermore” if you are more a fan of mocktails).

You should go to the Pure Ink Poetry Slam while getting dinner at The Gypsy Parlor on Grant St and while you’re over there go buy some used books at Rust Belt Books.

Since it would kind of be sacrilege to visit Western New York and not go see Niagara Falls, definitely plan a day to do that cause it’s cool and bring spare clothes and make sure to go through the Cave of the Winds because it’s worth getting wet.

Tifft Farms is a great easy outdoor adventure but make sure you get down to Chestnut Ridge and do the hike down to the Eternal Flame. It’s super cool and you can’t see something like that just anywhere.

And go get Wet Shoes at Amy’s Place. You won’t regret it.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
They say it takes a village to raise a family and I know that in these trying days, many people don’t have that kind of support. I am so privileged to have many people in my life who love and support me and my dream and who have stepped in to help me with raising my kids so I can keep pursuing what I love to do. First, my stepmom, Sue. Starting right before the pandemic, she started coming to my house several days a week to watch my boys so I could work. She continued to come all through the pandemic and then when the kids went back to school, she watched them in the afternoon and over the summers. Once my daughter was born, she went back to being here several days a week to watch her while I was growing my company. Not only does she help withwatching my kids, she helps me keep my house clean, pulls out the clothes that don’t fit my kids any more and even gets rid of the excess toys that always seem to pile up. I would literally lose my mind without her.

I also have to give a shoutout to my friend Jen who has become another mom-figure to my kids. She has been a nanny, part-time babysitter, extra set of hands, helper to us off and on over the years. More recently, finding herself with more free time on her hands, she volunteered to come and help us with the kids whenever she could and she has been a miracle for us. Watching the kids for date nights, on the work days I didn’t have childcare, cleaning the house, whatever we need–she shows up for us. Perhaps most admirable, she comes weekly when we have band practice to watch the kids…all the kids. My husband and I are both in a band together and all the other 5 members of the band also have young kids. She volunteers to come and keep an eye on all of them so that we can find the time to practice, record and bring new music to the world. Her capacity to give and love my kids is incredible and I am so eternally grateful for the way she helps to raise my babies.

In addition, my dad, Bob, and my other stepmom, Kate, also help me out with the kids. Twice a week, they pick the boys up from school and do their homework with them, read to them, get them outside and so much more. They also usually handle buying all the teacher gifts, Valentines treats and all that kind of stuff, so I don’t have to. Having them take some of the homework/school responsibility off of me and my husband really helps with the stress of the rest of our week because the evenings go quick between 5:30 and bedtime at 8.

Our village is incredible and there is no way that I could be doing what I’m doing with the dedication and intensity that I’m doing it without them.

Website: https://www.papercraftmiracles.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/papercraftmiracles

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janna-willoughby-lohr/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/papermiracle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/papercraftmiracles

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/papercraft-miracles-buffalo

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD-Jz9RgAwJGfd0x_vm-Cwg

Other: Contact us at info@papercraftmiracles.com or call 855-4PAPER5 (855-472-4375)

Image Credits
Stephen Gabris, Heather Bellini, Papercraft Miracles